Victoria is on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, but the City of Vancouver itself is not on the Island.

Travel to Victoria must be done either by air or by sea, typically via Vancouver or Seattle. Direct flights are now possible from Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco and Seattle.

Please check the Citizenship and Immigration Canada web site at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/index.asp, to learn about entry requirements to visit Canada. If you require an invitation letter for the purpose of obtaining a visa, please contact Coba Ricard at HIA. IMPORTANT: You will need to fully satisfy US entry requirements if you transit through a US airport.

Travel by Air

Air travel to Victoria International Airport (YYJ). The majority of flights into Victoria either originate or pass through Vancouver or Seattle. However new airlink services are springing up rather quickly, so other options may be available. Scheduled carriers into Victoria are Air Canada, Horizon Air, United Airlines and WestJet.

This airport serves medium-to-large passenger aircraft for southern Vancouver Island . Connections to Victoria are usually made via Vancouver or Seattle. International visitors arriving via Vancouver will clear customs and immigration in Vancouver, while those arriving from Seattle will go through them in Victoria.

The airport is ~30 minutes' drive from downtown Victoria. Taxis or the Airporter hotel shuttle are available after exiting the arrivals doors at the Airport. Taxi fare from airport to downtown is approximately CAN$50 one-way. The Airporter is CAN$15 one-way, and serves all Victoria hotels, but it leaves at 30-minute intervals. Airporter reservations can be made online at: http://www.victoriaairportshuttle.com/.

Vancouver flights are very frequent, currently numbering approximately 40 per day in each direction. These are aboard propeller-driven commuter planes; flights are airborne for about 17 minutes: Air Canada Jazz (Air Canada connector, 1-888-247-2262)

Other Airports:

•From Seattle (SeaTac Airport), there are ~8 flights per day in each direction, aboard Dash-8 aircraft: Horizon Air (Alaska Airlines connector)(1-800-547-9308). IMPORTANT: You will have to satisfy US visa requirements if you transit through Seattle.

•From Calgary, there are several flights per day aboard jet aircraft: Westjet Airlines 1-800-538-5696, Air Canada (1-800-247-2262)

•From San Francisco, United Express offers a direct flight to Victoria

•An alternative way to arrive or depart Victoria is via floatplane or helicopter. Floatplanes operated by West Coast Air ( http://www.westcoastair.com/ and Harbour Air Seaplanes http://www.harbour-air.com/) take off and land in the Inner Harbour several times a day and connect to downtown Vancouver and Seattle and to Vancouver International Airport.

•There is also scheduled helicopter service operated by HeliJet (http://www.helijet.com/). The floatplane terminals and heliport are much nearer to downtown Victoria than Victoria International Airport is. A disadvantage is that connections in Vancouver or Seattle to floatplanes to and from Victoria may be difficult to arrange. Contact your travel agent for more information. Again, where you pass through customs and immigration depends on whether you travel via Vancouver or Seattle.

Travel by Sea

Travelling by sea to Victoria offers a spectacular trip through some of the most beautiful coastlines of British Columbia:

•From the BC Mainland: BC Ferries has scheduled sailings between the Tsawwassen ferry terminal south of Vancouver and the Swartz Bay ferry terminal, ~40 minutes' drive north of Victoria. Both vehicles and foot passengers can be accommodated on these ferries at different rates. For more information, see: http://www.bcferries.com/. Frequency of sailing varies by season and day of the week, but sailings depart in both directions at least every second hour from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. For bus connections on this route, call Pacific Coach Lines (1-250-385-4411). PCL offers a service between Vancouver Airport and downtown Victoria.

•From the US Mainland: Passenger ferries can be taken between Victoria and several points in Washington State :